Mark Pfeifer is Foothill High School's new Health Safety and Advanced Weightlifting teacher. He is also our new JV wrestling and JV football coach.

He’s a local, from California, but spent two years continuing his education in Nebraska at Chadron State on a full athletic scholarship for wrestling.

Pfeifer earned an undergraduate in sports medicine science and a master’s in business.

Pfeifer has always had a love for sports. His favorite football team is the 49er’s and his favorite baseball team is the Boston Red Sox.

“I like all college sports really,” said Pfeifer, “I’m just a huge sports fanatic.”

After finishing college, Pfeifer opened up his own cross-fit gym that he sold after working on it for two years. Before he started teaching, Pfeifer also worked for the State of California Emergency Preparedness Office.

“During any disaster I worked with the office that would respond to it; people that go there to help, that was my office,” explained Pfeifer.

In the classroom, on the field, or on the mat, Pfeifer gives all his students and athletes the same advice:

“No matter what you’re doing, whatever you’re involved in, you have to give 100%. So whether it’s a class you’re in, every class you should give 100%. Every time a play happens you have to give your 100%. If you’re not you’re just cheating yourself. That’s my number one motto: Give your 100% whenever you’re faced with an opportunity to give your 100%,” said Pfeifer.

He continued to explain how student-athletes are still students first, not athletes first.

“The kids that want to move onto school for athletics need to focus and should be more focused in the classroom because athletics only take you so far,” explained Pfeifer, “and then once that’s done your education is going to carry you for the rest of your life. That’s what I try to get across to my kids, is that in order to be the best athlete they can be they also have to be the best student they can be.”

Like some other teachers at Foothill, Pfeifer found teaching different than expected.

“You have to have a passion for it (teaching). It’s a lot more difficult than what I thought it would be,” explained Pfeifer. “But it’s so rewarding when you see a kid, when a lightbulb flicks in their head and they go ‘oh yeah’ when they realize something. It’s pretty cool to experience that and just to know that with all the kids that they should know that I’m here for them if they ever need anything. So it’s a very difficult but rewarding job.”